Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman hits out at ban ahead of Atletico Madrid La Liga title showdown
ByReuters
Updated 07/05/2021 at 12:54 GMT
The Dutchman was dismissed in last week's shock 2-1 home loss to Granada which hit Barca's title hopes. Having missed Sunday's 3-2 victory at Valencia, Ronald Koeman is set to also be absent for the crunch La Liga showdown at the Camp Nou against leaders Atletico Madrid on Saturday after having an appeal to reduce the ban rejected by the RFEF.
Ronald Koeman
Image credit: Getty Images
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has criticised the Spanish FA's (RFEF) decision to hand him a two-game ban for using what was deemed to be derogatory language towards a match official.
Barcelona on Wednesday confirmed they would present a second appeal to Spain's Sports Administrative Court in a bid to get the ban overturned.
"I feel it's something personal, yes," Koeman told a news conference on Friday.
"To say 'What a person' is not insulting, and it's not a reason to ban someone for two games. So yes, I believe it to be something deeper (than the words said)."
Barca sit two points behind Atletico, who have 76 points, and a victory would see them leapfrog their opponents with just three games left to play.
Title rivals Real Madrid, who are level on points with Barca and host fourth-placed Sevilla on Sunday, could be the main beneficiaries if the game ends in a draw due to their superior head-to-head record against Atleti and Barca.
Koeman insisted Barcelona will not alter their usual set-up for the game.
"Barca are a side who look to attack and we need to stay loyal to that, to ourselves, and we won't change," said Koeman.
"We don't expect them to leave much space for us when they don't have the ball.
"This week hasn't been any different to a normal week. You don't need to do anything different because the players know how important the game is.
"I'm convinced that if we win our four remaining games, we will win the title."
Barca forward Martin Braithwaite returns to the squad after injuring his ankle last month, meaning only long-term absentees Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho are unavailable.
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SIMEONE: NO CHANGE OF GAMEPLAN
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has no special plans for Saturday's La Liga title showdown.
"We're playing with a really clear idea this season as you can see," he told a news conference on Friday.
"Sometimes it's gone really well and sometimes it hasn't. We don't change a lot. We'll try and play using the good points of how we've been playing up to now.
"They (Barca) are a side who have won a lot of points on the spin, they play good football and have done a great job in recovering from a slow first half of the season.
"We'll look to take the game in the direction we want it to go in and play our own game."
Simeone has a fully fit squad, with defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Renan Lodi returning to full training on Friday.
The Argentine has never won as a coach at the Camp Nou, however he did secure a maiden La Liga victory against Barca earlier this season when the sides met in Madrid.
The same result on Saturday could help to secure a first title for the Rojiblancos since 2014.
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